Transcript

Hey Strong Bad,
I'd like to know...what is the secret
to your pizzaz? Why are you so cool?

peace out dawg foo gangsta yo
Ryan N.

STRONG BAD: Umm... {typing} Did you just call me a dog food gangsta? What is that supposed to mean? {in an Olde English typeface} Ought I to be offended? {clears screen} Anyways... {typing} The secret to my pizzaz/ {says the word "slash"} why am I so cool? {spoken only} Hey, {typed and spoken} good questions Ryguy, let's ask me!!

{music starts and a newspaper background appears}

ANNOUNCER: Tonight, on Strong Bad-Type Interview Progrum:

{The Strong Bad-Type Interview Progrum logo appears.}

ANNOUNCER: Strong Bad aims the barrel of his sawed-off journalism shotgun at his toughest interviewee yet...

{a crosshair appears and moves around the screen revealing the scene underneath it before centering on Strong Bad's head and flashing "LOCKED ON!!"}

ANNOUNCER: ...HIMSLEF! {echoes ridiculously} Eh...I mean...himself.

{The scene changes to Strong Bad's interview stage with the lights dimmed; Strong Bad is talking to someone off-screen with his microphone turned off. The lights fade up and Strong Bad turns toward the camera.}

STRONG BAD: Good evening, mostly people, and welcome to another night of hard-hitting, buffalo-style journalism! As we say every show, let's...

{The camera switches to the rear of Strong Bad to reveal another Strong Bad, this one dressed in a sailor's cap with a corncob pipe, hereafter referred to as "CAPTAIN STRONG BAD" for clarity's sake; aside from the hat and pipe, he's a carbon copy of Strong Bad}

CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Thank you, Strong Bad.

{The camera shifts back and forth between them as they talk.}

STRONG BAD: So... You're dressed like a ship's captain. Whuh... Um... Why are you dressed like a ship's captain?

CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: I thought that I heard that it was... {looks around} ...the latest style.

STRONG BAD: Absolutely not the case. So... You're still dressed like a ship's captain. Why is that?

CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Look, I'm telling you, I either saw or read or {quickly under his breath} hearditfromTheCheat that it's the latest style!

STRONG BAD: So you say. This "The Cheat" you mentioned... {speaking with slight hint of withheld laughter} is he also dressed like a ship's captain?

CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Oh, no way. The Cheat's too cool for that.

STRONG BAD: But you don't seem to have that problem.

CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: What... No, wait, you turned it all around on me! I'm cool! I have pizzaz!

STRONG BAD: Uh-huh. And a corncob pipe.

CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Oh, that's it! This interview is OVERRRR!

{Strong Bad sticks his face in the screen and shakes his fists as the picture fuzzes out.}

{Cue an old-cartoon-style picture of The Cheat next to a pulled power plug with the text "Hang In There" and "Technical Difficulties."}

{After a little while, newspaper background and music returns with a picture of Captain Strong Bad's angry outburst.}

STRONG BAD:{voiceover} So after many fives of dollars and saying "Come oooonnnnnn!" a lot, I got Strong Bad to agree to a second interview, this time on his buffalo-style ranch in Strong Badia.

{Switch to image of Strong Badia with Strong Bad and Captain Strong Bad behind the fence, which zooms to fill the screen and then cranes in on the two Strong Bads.}

{The camera switches to behind the fence, showing that it is far too tall for Strong Bad's head to come above it normally, and that they are both actually hanging from the fence by their arms}

STRONG BAD: Is that really all you got?

CAPTAIN STRONG BAD: Yeah... Yeah, pretty much.

THE CHEAT:{He makes "la-de-da-de-da" Cheat noises as he comes on-screen and the camera moves back to the front of the fence.}

BOTH STRONG BADS: Hey, The Cheat!

{The Cheat looks at one, then the other, then the other, faster and faster until finally his head explodes.}

{The scene shifts back to the computer.}

STRONG BAD:{typing} So, I never really got a straight answer outta me, RyGuy. But if you wanna be cool and have pizzas like me, it looks like the secret has a lot to do with fresh breath apparently. Okay, before I go, I'd like to give a shout out to all my Dogfood Gangstas. Canned or Dry, We Neva Die. {speaking} Colors. {typing} Here goes The Strong Baaaaad. {gets up from the stool and continues off-screen} Oh, here goes The Strong Baaaaad!

Remarks

Slide n' Slide time!

"Pizzaz" is spelled incorrectly. The correct spellings are "pizzazz" and "pizazz".

Biscuit Dough Hands Man is the initial suspect for Strong Bad's crimes in "Strong Bad is in Jail Cartoon", created by Bubs drawing The King of Town's description of Strong Bad. So technically, one could say Strong Bad will be interviewing himself again.

Bazookas (or rocket launchers of any type) do not come in a "gauge" as described in the Biscuit Dough Hands Man Easter egg. "Gauge" can refer to shotguns, where it is an indirect measurement of the barrel based upon how many balls of buckshot could be made out of a pound of iron for that shotgun. The larger the barrel, the smaller the gauge, as each individual ball of buckshot had to be bigger. (Nowadays the process for making buckshot is different, but the measurement continues to be used.) A rocket launcher's ammunition would be described in how long or wide it's rocket is, such as a "40mm rocket".

When Captain Strong Bad turns his head during the first part of the interview, his hat seems to slide across the top of his head from side to side.

Goofs

Ship's Captain Strong Bad's right arm is missing during most of the first interview, making his hand float somehow.

Real-World References

The interview program may be a reference to Tim Russert's Meet the Press on which Russert often tries to be tough about unimportant topics ("So...you're still dressed as a ship's captain"). Russert also makes frequent references to his hometown of Buffalo, while Strong Bad makes numerous references to such in this email with the phrase "Buffalo-style."

"This interview is OVER!" is a reference to Pro Wrestling Manager J.J. Dillon, who managed Ric Flair in the early '80s in Georgia (where The Brothers Chaps live). He would end every interview with the same comment.

The gunshot sound at the end of the Easter egg (and the style of the hole being blasted from the "The Strong Bad" logo) is taken from the SNES gameSuper Scope 6—and is the sound used in all the Lazer Blazer games when a shot is fired.

Strong Bad dressing up as a captain for an interview is similar to an episode of Seinfeld in which Jerry is forced to wear a pirate shirt for an interview and is asked why he is wearing it by his interviewer several times.

The Three G's, also known as "GGG," will be familiar to any Dan Savage (Savage Love) reader. It refers to being Good, Giving and Game in an intimate relationship.

The concept for the fictitious TV show The Strong Bad is based on Bonanza, the first regularly broadcast American television program to be filmed in color. In particular, the "Here Comes the Strong Bad" theme shares many traits with Bonanza's: a rising major triad, with the first tone repeated several times with rhythmic values less than a beat, followed by the other two tones, each taking up a full beat.

"Canned or Dry, We Neva Die. Colors." is a reference to the song "Colors" by rapper Ice T. Specifically, the line "The gangs of L.A. will never die, just multiply, colors".

MIKE: Umm... we just saw a guy in the parking lot of our office dressed as ship's captain this morning.

MATT: A pail of water—

MIKE: He had a bucket full of water dumping it in the parking lot and he was wearing a ship's captain hat.

MATT: Yeah. He had pizzaz.

MIKE:{laughs} He definitely did.

MATT: Umm so Strong Bad really lays it to himself. Really gives himself the business. With a third d—

MIKE: As only Strong Bad could.

MATT: Yeah. He doesn't react very well. You think he could— he could take it.

MIKE: He just quits. This is a great song. This is a great song! {starts singing} I'll sing it {continues singing and snaps his fingers}

MATT:{makes a the Cheat noise at the end of the song like "meh"}

MIKE: That was good.

{short pause. Start again when Strong Bad says "come on."}

MIKE: Let me— let me see.

MATT: Oh. Microphone I think is one of the words.

MIKE: I don't think there's any thing legible.

MATT: Water. Water Views. Uhhh—

MIKE: Oh! Look at that camera move!

MATT: Yeah thanks.

MIKE: Solid!

MATT: Cinematic.

MIKE: Little dolly action.

MATT: I did go to film school!

{both laugh, then sigh}

MATT: Uhh..

{pause}

MATT: So I don't even think— I think I already started animating this scene and then realized that, "Wow! You know what they have to either be standing on something or hanging from the fence." So I had 'em hanging from the fence.